Part 12

Several moves were made looking toward intervention by the Allies to save Russia from complete domination by Germany. A military agreement between China and Japan relating to the expedition into Siberia was signed on June 2. On June 10 Senator William H. King introduced a resolution in the United States Senate proposing that a civilian commission be sent to Russia, backed by an allied military force, for the purpose of overcoming German propaganda and to aid in giving freedom to the country. The Russian Ambassador at Washington, Boris Bakhmeteff, presented to the State Department on June 11 a resolution adopted by the Central Committee of the Cadet Party of Russia urging allied intervention.

June 18--Further advances into Russia by the Germans in contravention of Brest treaty.

FINLAND

General Mannerheim, Commander in Chief of the Finnish White Guards, resigned on May 23 because of the plan of the Finnish Conservatives to invade the Russian Province of Karelia.

The Cabinet resigned on May 25 as a result of the appointment of former Premier Zvinhufvud as temporary dictator. M. Paasikivi, a member of the old Finnish party and a former Senator, was asked by the dictator to form a Cabinet.

On June 2 Russia agreed with Germany that she would accept proposals for the regularization of her relations with Finland.

A Swedish Socialist paper, according to a dispatch printed in The London Times of June 3, published a statement that a secret treaty existed between Finland and Germany whereby the Finnish Government undertook to establish a monarchy under a German dynasty, to place the Finnish Army under German leadership, to allow Finland to be used as a passageway to the arctic and the Aland Islands as a naval base. Later reports announced that Prince Oscar, the fifth son of the German Emperor, would probably be the ruler.

On June 12, the Government proposal for the establishment of a monarchy with a hereditary ruler was presented to the Landtag.

Kronstadt was seized by the Germans May 30, and on the same day announcement was made that General von der Goltz had been placed in supreme command of the Finnish Army as well as of the German forces in Finland.

Announcement was made on June 10 that Germany and Russia had reached an agreement concerning the boundaries of Finland, providing that Finland cede to Russia the fortresses of Ino and Raivola under guarantees that they were not to be fortified. Russia ceded to Finland the western part of the Murman Peninsula with an outlet to the Arctic Ocean.

In response to communications from the French and British Legations at Stockholm, the Finnish Government announced that it had no designs on the Mourmansk railway, but would not undertake not to reunite Carelia with Finland, and on June 17 it was announced that Finland would annex Carelia.

RUMANIA

Lord Robert Cecil announced in the British House of Commons on May 28 that diplomatic representatives of the Allies at Jassy had notified Rumania that their Governments considered the Rumanian peace treaty with the Central Powers null and void.

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

An official French dispatch received in Washington May 22 announced that a decree had been issued in Vienna dividing Bohemia into twelve district governments, with advantages to the Germans which would reduce the Czech powers in the Reichsrat at Vienna as well as in Bohemia itself. Martial law was proclaimed in some parts of Bohemia.

The aspirations of the Congress of Oppressed Races of Austria-Hungary, which was held in Rome in April, were indorsed by Secretary Lansing in a statement issued May 29.

Disorders throughout Bohemia and the Slavic regions of Austria-Hungary by the Poles, Slovenes, Czechs, and Slavs. Serious political unrest throughout the Dual Empire. Prime Minister of Austria, Dr. Seidler, resigns.

Austria and Germany fail to block an agreement regarding disposition of Poland.

MISCELLANEOUS

The Manchester Guardian announced on May 18 that the war treaty between England, France, Italy, and Russia, which embodied Italy's terms of entering the war, and which was published by the Bolshevist Government in Russia on Jan. 26, had been abrogated, and that its place had been taken by a new treaty.

The Radoslavoff Ministry in Bulgaria resigned June 16.

China and Japan reached an agreement on military affairs, including the expedition into Siberia, and on other matters on May 20, and the formal compact was signed June 2. A naval convention had been signed May 23.

The Belgian Foreign Minister, Charles de Broqueville, resigned on June 3. He was succeeded by M. Cooreman, former President of the House of Representatives.

A memorandum presented to the American State Department and made public on June 14 showed that Belgians were still being deported and were compelled to work behind the German lines.

On June 12 the lower house of the Prussian Diet adopted the fourth reading of the suffrage bill, including provision for the proportional representation of the mixed language districts of the eastern provinces, and also passed bills settling the composition of the upper house and providing for a revision of the Constitution.

Peru seized interned German ships of 50,000 tonnage at Callao, June 15.

Costa Rica declared war against Germany May 23.

A Battle Seen From Above

By a Correspondent at the Front

[By arrangement with The London Chronicle]

The night mists came creeping up like a smoke screen, and the battalion that marched up toward the edge of the battlefield along the road that skirted the far end of the aerodrome was a regiment of shadow forms. A band of drums and fifes was playing them out with a merry little tune, so whimsical and yet so sad also in the heart of it.

It had been decided that an important railway junction behind the German lines was to be bombed. All day long had been the continuous roar of death, and now, when night had fallen, all the sky seemed on fire with it. Voluminous clouds, all bright with a glory of infernal fire, rolled up to the sky, the most frightful and tragic thing it has ever been given to men to behold, with an infernal splendor beyond words to tell.

With a tense, restless emotion the order to set off out over the enemy lines was awaited. In the ground-fog the machine, with a load of bombs tucked away under the wings, looked a mysterious, weird thing, and shadowy forms flitted hither and thither across the aerodrome. The tramp of marching men could be heard, and the tap of drums to the rhythm of their feet, and those transport columns which shake the Flemish cottages of the little hamlets as they pass along.

At last the order was given, and up into the chill air the machine rose. Circling round a couple of times, the nose of the airplane was set in the direction of the objective, away behind the inferno of the hell-fires of No Man's Land.

Only the mighty voice of the engine could be heard, and headlights were switched off just before crossing the line. There was still a dank, heavy mist hanging over the ground, and visibility was not so good as might have been desired.

But down below one of those terrible bombardments, a beautiful and devilish thing, was in full blast. All the sky seemed on fire with it, and thousands of gun flashes were winking and blinking from hidden places and hollows. Shells rushed through the air as though flocks of colossal birds were in flight. Amid all the noise and din of those fires of hate and hell it was certain the monotonous drone of the engine would not be heard.

Then, when the Hun lines had been crossed without trouble from "Archies," glancing back, star-shells could be seen bursting and pouring down golden rain. And as far as the eye could see, northward and southward, stretched seemingly unbroken lines of Verey lights. The enemy was also sending up his flares, as he often does, to reveal any masses of men who may be moving between his shell craters and ours.

Quickly the "eggs" were dropped on the objective, and two terrific bursts of flame indicated the explosions. Evading the beams of a searchlight that sought to pick up the machine, home and the friendly darkness were sought.

The German lines were recrossed, and, glancing below, it was seen that S O S light signals, with their little cries of color to the German gunners behind, were being sent up into the skies. It was some time ago that such lights were first seen up in the sky, and they had never ceased their winking for a single night, though now they appeared blurred in the white breath which had arisen from the wet earth.

And to pass over all this is to conceive a great admiration for these gunners, who, amid all the tumult, deafening and nerve splitting, of our batteries, work with an endurance and courage to the limit of human nature. G. B.

American Soldiers in Action

Achievements of General Pershing's Troops in the Terrific Battles in Champagne and Picardy

[MONTH ENDED JUNE 18, 1918]

With over 800,000 American troops in France, as the Secretary of War announced on June 15, 1918, the United States in the last month has assumed a far greater portion of the Allies' burden and has begun to take its full share in the large-scale fighting on the western front. Within a year since the first American troops landed in France, a period primarily one of preparation, the United States Army has developed into an important military factor. Evidence of this was seen in June in several engagements in which the Americans distinguished themselves by their gallantry, resourcefulness, and efficient methods. Prominent in the month's record were the American offensive at Cantigny, and later, on a much larger scale, the operations at Château-Thierry and in the Marne region near that town.

General Pershing directed the offensive which resulted in the capture of the strongly fortified village of Cantigny, northwest of Montdidier, thereby creating a small salient. The attack, which was delivered on May 28, was on a front of one and one-quarter miles. The Americans, supported by French heavy guns in addition to their own artillery and French tanks, swept forward with remarkable speed and precision, occupied the village, captured 200 prisoners, and inflicted severe losses in killed and wounded on the enemy. Then, with equal rapidity, they consolidated their newly won positions and were thus able to repulse some very fierce counterattacks during the following days. The American casualties were relatively small. The troops that captured Cantigny were sent to that sector a month previously, after Pershing's offer to place all his men and resources at the disposal of the Allies. During the four weeks preceding the offensive the Americans had held their positions under comparatively heavy shelling.

Both before and after the Cantigny engagement, the Americans in all the sectors where they held positions were occupied in ceaseless fighting of minor importance. There were many artillery duels, with plentiful use of gas on both sides, many raids, and considerable aerial activity. The Americans began to feel the effect of increased aircraft production, and in several sectors where the Germans had previously had the advantage the situation was now reversed and American aviators had the upper hand.

AT CHATEAU-THIERRY

Château-Thierry, a town on the Marne, was the next place where the Americans distinguished themselves. On May 31, when the capture of the town by the Germans was imminent, American machine gunners began to arrive on the river banks. Joining a battalion of French colonial troops, they entered the town, and by their well-organized defense positions and accurate fire, caused the advancing Germans to hesitate and halt. The Americans not only repulsed the Germans at every point at which they were engaged, but took prisoners without having any prisoners in turn taken by the Germans. The Americans in this sector were units drawn from the Marine Corps.

The successful resistance against the Germans at Château-Thierry was followed by the marines beating off two determined German attacks on the Marne. The Germans concentrated large forces before Veuilly Wood, and began a mass attack. They were mowed down by the American machine gunners, and the attack was broken up before reaching the American line. The Germans fled in confusion and with heavy losses.

It was now the Americans' turn to attack. The marines, pushing forward on the morning of June 6, penetrated to a depth of over two miles on a front of two and a half miles, and occupied all the important high ground northwest of Château-Thierry. The French co-operated to the left of the Americans. The Germans were so hard pressed by the Americans that in three days it was necessary to bring up three new divisions of the best German troops.

The Americans continued to advance, pushing forward to a line which lay through Les Mares Farm, just north of the village of Lucy le Bocage, and on through the outskirts of the town of Triangle. This line included strong positions in Bussiares Wood, the crossroads south of Torcy, and the southern edge of Belleau Wood. During the night of June 6 the fighting raged with great fierceness for five hours. The Americans captured Bouresches and Torcy. Further fighting on June 7 extended the American line over a front of about six miles to a depth of nearly two and a half miles. While the losses of the Americans were necessarily heavy, the German dead were piled three deep in places.

The importance of the operations of the Americans on the Marne sector was evident from the fact that the day before they arrived on the front and began fighting, the Germans advanced about six miles. While the Americans advanced their line, the French completed the capture of Vilny, Veuilly-la-Poterie, and the heights southeast of Hautevesnes.

BELLEAU WOOD ENGAGEMENT

Following the capture of Bouresches came the fierce fighting for the possession of Belleau Wood to the north. This wooded hill was a stronghold of German infantry and machine gunners, and the only way to attack it was by advancing to the other side. The American infantry had the assistance of the artillery in clearing the wooded heights, and in the biggest artillery engagement in which the Americans had yet been engaged more than 5,000 high explosive and gas shells were thrown into the German machine gun nests in the woods. Meanwhile German attacks against Hill 204, west of Château-Thierry and commanding the town, were repulsed.

The United States marines attacked again on the morning of June 10 and penetrated the German lines for about two-thirds of a mile on a 600-yard front in Belleau Wood, with the result that the Germans were driven from all but the northern fringe of the wood. On June 11 the wood was captured and 300 prisoners were taken.

FIRST FIELD ARMY

The War Department received reports on May 21 which showed that the first of the field armies had been organized and was in service in France. The army, composed of two army corps, each made up of one regular army, one National Guard, and one National Army division, was placed under the temporary command of Major Gen. Hunter Liggett, the senior Major General then in foreign service. General Liggett was selected to command the first army corps organized in France, and this corps, with that temporarily commanded by Major Gen. Charles T. Menoher, made up the first field army, the total strength of which was almost 200,000 men. By June 14 the American forces in France had become so numerous that General Foch had informed General Pershing that it was desirable to maintain them as purely American units. This fact was communicated to the House Military Affairs Committee by the War Council at Washington. In accordance with this policy two full American divisions were engaged in the fighting in the Château-Thierry sector. The Secretary of War told the committee that General Foch was gradually decreasing the number of Americans brigaded with the French and British, and thereby increasing the American unit.

Official announcements made at Washington showed that approximately half a million soldiers had landed in France since the German drive began on March 21, 1918, and that Americans held no more than fifty miles of the whole western front. One element of Pershing's mobile forces, by direction of General Foch, guarded the way at the apex of the whole German wedge near Montdidier. Cantigny, which was captured by these forces, was very close to the point of maximum penetration achieved by the enemy after nearly three months of desperate fighting.

The total casualties sustained by the American Expeditionary Forces from the beginning of American participation in the war up to June 17, 1918, is shown in the following figures issued by the War Department at Washington:

Deaths. Total. Killed in action 881 Lost at sea 291 Died of wounds 364 Accident and other causes 422 Died of disease 1,234 ----- Total deaths 3,192 Wounded 4,547 Missing, including prisoners 346 ----- Grand total 8,085

First American Offensive a Success

Capture of Cantigny by General Pershing's Troops Described in Vivid Detail

By THOMAS M. JOHNSON

_Correspondent with the American Army_

_This stirring narrative of the first attack and capture of enemy territory by the American forces in France was written by a staff correspondent of The New York Evening Sun. It constitutes a memorable chapter in our military history, not because of the size of the town captured, but because the event marks the beginning of offensive operations in Europe by the United States Army. The brave men who took Cantigny--at the apex of the German salient aimed at Amiens--continued to hold it against all counterattacks through the succeeding weeks. Under date of May 29, 1918, Mr. Johnson cabled from the front:_

The Americans have made their first real attack of the war, and it is a complete success. Advancing up a wooded slope behind French tanks and protected by a perfect and annihilating barrage from French and American guns, our infantry at 7 o'clock Tuesday morning, May 28, stormed and captured the village of Cantigny, northwest of Montdidier, and the German defenses to the north and south, making an advance of a mile on a two-mile front.

The Americans went over in open formation at 6:45 o'clock, advancing at an easy walk and maintaining intervals as if on parade. The sun had just risen, and through streaky clouds all about tongues of red flame were darting from the muzzles of hundreds of massed guns, big and small, while the air itself quivered with the shock of explosions, mingled with the deafening yet purring roar that is called drum fire.

Cantigny itself was turned into a veritable hell, a pillar of fire and smoke, and into it went the crawling, sinister tanks followed by the American infantry in thin lines or little groups. For a while they were swallowed up in the great white and brown and black cloud that enveloped the village, then back to the American line came the first message: "We're here! Everything O. K.!"

Thus these troops of the New World made their first real entry into the war. Thus they did what they could to help in offsetting the new German effort. Compared with the giant struggle going on elsewhere it was just a little outburst, but we did our best with it and have succeeded.

AN UNFORGETTABLE SCENE

No one who had the privilege to be on the scene at the time of this first American attack will ever forget the sight. It was unforgettable. The whole thing is uneffaceable from the time in the pregnant darkness when the troops that had been chosen for this most honorable of tasks went quietly along the shell-pitted roads to the jumping-off place; from the time the grotesque monsters called tanks rumbled up the same roads to hide until dawn in lairs behind the front line, while other monsters with long snouts crouched upon their heavy carriages like coiled serpents and were given their last drop of oil and their last daub of grease to make sure that their devastating charges would fall true upon their mark; from the time the men were given their last orders and their last "good luck" and went off, they knew not to what, in the first early streak of rosy dawn when the cannonade began and the first airplanes whirred overhead toward the doomed village.

From then until that last throbbing hour when the tempest of shellfire drowned out everything, yes, up to that tense minute at 6:45 o'clock when we turned to one another and in an awestruck whisper said, "They're over," it is all unforgettable. One lives such moments but once.

This operation had been planned for weeks down to the minutest detail under the direction of the Superior French Command, and in the closest co-operation with the French, to whom must go a liberal measure of the credit for its success.

So far as its objects may be disclosed, they were the following: To reduce the enemy salient and capture its strong point and observation post. Cantigny was all those things. Jutting out from the German front, it gave the enemy an advantage in the field of fire, while, because of its strong cellars, which were linked up with an especially long tunnel under the château in the southern part of the village, which might be likened to its citadel, it was decidedly a strong post.

Perhaps most important of all, it gave the boche a local advantage comparable to that of a man looking down a well. It commanded a sort of valley running back into our lines and permitted the enemy observers to see many things that went on there and so direct his artillery fire upon our back areas. For all of those reasons Cantigny was a prize of value out of all proportion to its size.

ATTACK CAREFULLY REHEARSED

The attack was carefully planned and was rehearsed by our infantry with tanks. They had the further advantage of valuable data gained by our patrols in frequent night explorations of the village, whence the boche seems to have withdrawn his infantry during darkness.

To two American soldiers goes the credit for the fine and loyal thing they did which immeasurably contributed to the success of their comrades. These two soldiers were captured early yesterday morning in a trench raid, and last night the question on every one's mind was, "did they tell?" They knew what was coming and had rehearsed it. Subjected to Prussian grilling, would they tell? The answer came this morning. The Germans were caught completely by surprise just as they made relief. The prisoners taken by us included some incoming and some outgoing troops. They hadn't the slightest idea the attack was coming. They didn't tell, those boys of ours. All the more honor to them for it!

PLAN OF THE ATTACK

This is how the attack was executed: The troops selected to make it entered the trenches in two shifts, the first on Sunday night and the second on Monday night, May 27. Special trenches had been constructed to accommodate a larger number of men than usual. Two hours before zero--that is to say, at 4:45 o'clock this morning--the men withdrew to supporting trenches, whence they went to the front line at zero, or 6:45.